Travelin' Soldier
by TeddyBear98
Summary: This is a one-shot song fiction for the song "Travelin' Soldier" by the Dixie Chicks. Kim is a 17-year-old waitress working at Felafel Phill's; Jack is an 18-year-old soldier going off to fight soon. They meet for the first time. Can they make things work? Kick! Rated T just to be safe but it could probably be K plus.


**Author's Note: Here is a little one-shot song fic I've been wanting to do for a little while now! The song is Travelin' Soldier by the Dixie Chicks! Enjoy and review, please!**

**Kim's POV**

I am working my normal shift in Falafel Phil's in small town Seaford, California when I see a cute guy with shaggy brown hair about my age, maybe a little older, pacing around outside at the bus stop in an army uniform. He looks towards the little restaurant I am working in and walks in, sitting down by himself in one of the booths. I walk up to him and ask him what he wants to eat; I write it down, occasionally looking at him as I do so. He is looking a little nervous, or maybe just shy, so I give him a little smile, which seems to make him feel a little better.

"Hey, I know you're working, miss, but do you think you could sit down and talk with me for a little while? I've been feeling a little low, lately."

Giving him another smile, I tell him that my shift ends in an hour and that I know a place that we can go after that.

_Two Days past eighteen_

_He was waiting for the bus in his army green_

_Sat down in a booth at a café there_

_Gave his order to a girl with a bow in her hair_

_He's a little shy so she gives him a smile_

_And he said would you mind sittin' down for a while and talking to me_

_I'm feeling a little low_

_She said I'm off in an hour and I know where we can go._

An hour later, my shift ends and I give my apron to Phil. He eyes the soldier with an eyebrow raised and then looks back to me. "What?" I ask him. "Oh, nothing," he says in his accent, and then tells me to have fun. "Ready?" I ask the guy. He nods his head. A few minutes after we start walking, we arrive at the pier and sit down on the edge, just looking out at the water. "My name's Jack, by the way," he tells me. "I'm Kim," I tell him. "Well, listen, Kim, I'm sure that you have a boyfriend; you're too pretty not to have one. I don't care, though; I don't have anyone to send a letter too when I go to the army camp; do you think I could send some back here to you?" he asks.

_So they went down and they sat on the pier_

_He said I bet you got a boyfriend but I don't care_

_I got no one to send a letter to._

_Would you mind if I sent one back here to you?_

"Actually, Jack, I don't have a boyfriend, and I would love it if you sent your letters to me," I tell Jack, blushing a little and smiling. He smiles back and, after hesitating just a little bit, leans towards me and wraps me in a hug; I hug him back. "Thanks, Kim," he says. I quickly give him my address, and then walk him back to the bus stop, waving goodbye to him as he boards the bus and it takes him to some army camp in some corner of California; then, I go home and cry for him. My mom comes in; she tells me that I'm too young to be waiting for the love of some random traveling soldier.

_I cry_

_Never gonna hold the hand of another guy_

_Too young for him they told her_

_Waitin' for the love of a travelin' soldier_

"Mom, you don't understand; I just feel a connection to him, and I can't change that. I love him, and honestly, I really think that he loves me, and if that's true I'm not going to let our love end. I'll wait forever for him to come home to tell him how I feel if I have to."

_Our love will never end_

_Waitin' for the soldier to come back again_

_Never more to be alone when the letter said_

_The soldier's comin' home_

I got my very first letter from Jack the day after he left, and he said that he promised he would come home, that he wouldn't die out there in his duties; he didn't know when, but he promised to come home. He was currently at an army camp right here in California, but in a few days, he would be traveling to fight in Vietnam; I was so scared for him, but all I told him in my letter back was that I truly believed that he would come home.

The second letter I got from Jack came from Vietnam, and my heart skipped a beat when he told me that he might be in love with me. My heart dropped when he told me of all of the things that he was scared of. He was scared of being injured, or worse in the midst of all of the fighting they were doing, so I wrote back and told him that he promised me he would come home, and that I still believed with all my heart that he would.

_So the letters came from an army camp_

_In California then Vietnam_

_And he told her of his heart _

_It might be love and_

_All of the things he was so scared of_

The third letter came about a week after the last one, and he told me that he was doing alright, and that whenever it was getting rough over there, he would think of me and that brief time we spent together at the pier, and that helped him to be able to carry on even when he felt like he really just wanted to give up. He told me that he wouldn't be able to write for a while, but not to worry about him; he would keep his promise and come home.

_He said when it's getting' kinda rough over here_

_I think of that day sittin' down at the pier_

_And I close my eyes_

_And see your pretty smile_

_Don't worry but I won't be able to write for a while_

Of course, I still worried that he wasn't going to be able to write for a while, but it wasn't like I could do anything about it, so I wrote him back and told him to get back to me as soon as he got the chance too; then I flop down on my bed and cry for a little while.

_I cry_

_Never gonna hold the hand of another guy_

_Too young for him they told her _

_Waitin' for the love of a travelin' soldier_

_Our love will never end_

_Waitin' for the soldier to come back again_

_Never more to be alone_

_When the letter said_

_The soldier's comin' home_

Three weeks later, I am at a football game at my school, Seaford High; my friend Jerry insisted that Eddie and I come and watch him play, since he had recently made the team. The game was about to start, but first a girl from one of the lower grades went to the center of the field and said the Lord's Prayer and sang the National Anthem, then the principal asked us to bow our heads for the list of locals who had recently lost their lives in Vietnam; all I could think was "I hope Jack's not one of them."

_One Friday night at a football game_

_The Lord's Prayer said and the anthem sang_

_A man said folks would you bow your heads_

_For a list of local _

_Vietnam dead_

Luckily, his name wasn't mentioned, but during one of the names called, I could of sworn I heard a sob coming from somewhere under the bleachers. I tell Eddie that I will be right back and go to investigate. Once I get down there, I see a scrawny redhead sitting on the ground with his head buried in his arms, crying. "Hey, what's wrong?" I ask, sitting down next to him.

_Cryin' all alone under the stands_

_Was a piccolo player in the marching band_

_And one name read_

_And nobody really cared_

_But a pretty little girl with a bow in her hair_

"My brother was killed in Vietnam," the boy, I think his name was Milton, told me. "I know someone fighting in Vietnam; I know how stressful it must have been waiting to see if he made it, and I'm so sorry that he didn't, Milton," I tell him, tears in my eyes now too. I hug him, and we cry there together.

_I cried_

_Never gonna hold the hand of another guy_

_Too young for him they told her_

_Waitin' for the love of a travelin' soldier_

_Our love will never end_

_Waitin' for the soldier to come back again_

_Never more to be alone when the letter says_

_The soldier's comin'_

After the football game, I head home, just thinking about Jack; just because his name hadn't been on the list of known deaths didn't mean he wasn't dead or dying, and I was worried about him. I head up to my room and see that the light is on, which is strange because I know that I shut it off before I left. Cautiously, I walk in, prepared to fight if I had too; after all, I was a black belt in karate. Instead of danger, though, I am met with the smiling face of Jack.

"Jack!" I squeal, and run up to him, wrapping him in a hug. He twirls me around and then gently puts me down, and then does something I don't expect: he kisses me right on the lips. Of course, I kiss back. "What are you doing here?!" I question excitedly. Smiling some more, he says, "This soldier's coming home."

_I cry_

_Never gonna hold the hand of another guy_

_Too young for him they told her_

_Waitin' for the love a travelin' soldier_

_Our love will never end_

_Waitin' for the soldier to come back again_

_Never more to be alone when the letter says_

_The soldier's comin' home_

**Author's Note: Well, what did you think? Please review!**


End file.
